Use of human growth hormone among athletes may add muscle, but it doesn’t necessarily actually improve strength, according to new research.
Dr. Hau Liu and his colleagues at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, Calif. wrote the report on the banned “wonder drug” that has raised controversy in the past with many Major League Baseball players.
In their studies of 440 participants, researchers noticed an additional 5 pounds more of muscle, and lost about 2 pounds more of fat in those using HGH. They also noted that some of the extra body mass could just be fluid buildup.
However, this addition of body mass in HGH users did not account for an increase in strength or stamina.
“What we saw is that while there was a change in body composition, we didn’t find evidence that growth hormone improves athletic performance,” said Liu.
Furthermore, they even noted that people who took growth hormone reported more fatigue than those who were not taking the drug. This may have been due to the increase of lactate, a byproduct of exercise that can result in pain and fatigue.
Human growth hormone is made in the pituitary gland and it promotes growth. Its synthetic use began in the 1980s and has only been approved for those who have specific conditions.
In those who have a condition that prompts the use of HGH, an increase of strength and exercise capability is seen, but there is none in normal healthy human beings, they said.
The research was unable to make a long-term prognosis, as the longest conducted study lasted only 3 months.
“The key takeaway is that we don’t have any good scientific evidence that growth hormone improves athletic performance,” Dr. Andrew Hoffman, a professor of endocrinology, gerontology and metabolism who worked on the study, said.
He added that many hormones, such as testosterone, actually contribute more to overall strength than HGH.
The review also added that the does used in their tests were probably less than those used by professional athletes looking for an added boost.
“Athletes probably take much more hormone than the investigators felt that they could ethically try to give to healthy people; in addition, some athletes combine growth hormone with other anabolic hormones like testosterone.”
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